


Tales of Cerulean Scales

by BrightEyesIllusionist



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Blacksmith Tony, Dragon Bucky Barnes, M/M, Magic, Prince Tony Stark, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightEyesIllusionist/pseuds/BrightEyesIllusionist
Summary: When Obediah sends Tony to the edge of the kingdom to be guarded by a dragon, he assumes that it will be easy to get the spoiled prince to marry whoever he sends to rescue him. He doesn't count on the prince befriending the dragon and coming up with a plan to get his kingdom back.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 22
Kudos: 321
Collections: Iron Man Big Bang 2019/2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This event was a lot of fun to be a part of and I am very excited to share this work with all of you!
> 
> The artist who I was lucky enough to work with was feignedsobriquet

The clanging of armored knights woke Winter from his slumber. He growled and allowed his claws to dig into the coins of his hoard. It sounded like only five to seven of them. Breathing deeply, he picked out the scent of them. Metal and sweat soaked leather, accompanied by the scent of horses. He wrinkled his nose. Human men always smelled disgusting.

They were coming up to the front gate now, the great oaken door blocking their path inside. At this point, they had to make a decision. They could try to open the great oak gate, but unless they had brought a powerful battering ram they would be out of luck there. They could try to climb the walls, and some did get up that way, but Winter had taken care to smooth the stones to the point that climbing without a grapple would be difficult. Most groups ended up just standing outside and shouting insults at the walls until they finally left, or Winter decided he was bored of hearing them. 

It had been awhile since the last group. Maybe he’d have a little fun with them and blow fireballs at them to get them to leave faster.

Outside the gate, the clanking finally drew close to the gate and the group stopped.

“Alright.” Winter could hear one of them, probably the leader, address the rest of the group. “Prince Anthony, with regards to the orders of Viceroy Stane, we have brought you to this location to accomplish the courting ritual set in place by the monarchy.” Great. Not just dumb young knights trying to make a name for themselves. This was one of those royalty things where they’d expect him to guard the stupid prince until some knight or another came to ‘rescue’ him and take him back to his kingdom to marry. What a load of crap. He was tired already.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Another voice chimed in, exasperation apparent in his tone. “I know the drill. Well, you’ve brought me here. Now how about you all just head on back home and tell Obie you dropped me off just fine.” 

“My Lord!” The first voice tried again. “We must be sure that you are settled properly before returning!”

“Whatever. Get on with it, then,” the prince sighed.

Winter pulled himself to his feet, shaking some loose coins from his scales. He was done waiting. This group would not just stop at trying to get in. If he let them do it themselves, they would crawl all over his lair, trying to find a way in. Smoke puffed from his nostrils. Better to get it over with now. If he went out and scared them off they should leave, prince or no prince.

He made his way quietly over to the tower closest to the gate and climbed up to the top. Looking down he could see the group. Six soldiers stood in a loose group around the prince, a small chest at their feet. The armor was buffed to a high polish and it reflected the sun’s light. The prince was dressed just as flamboyantly. Red silk with gold accents, a gold circlet with a ruby in the center over short, dark hair, and black leather boots with more gold detailing. Winter tilted his head. The effect was rather nice, actually. He hummed to himself, he wouldn’t mind adding some of that to his hoard. He finally allowed some of his claws to scrape against the stone, just loud enough to get the attention of the knights.

It was the prince, however, who first looked up to see him seated on the tower.

The prince whistled lowely. “Well, aren’t you just the most gorgeous thing?”

His statement got the attention of the knights who also looked up. Immediately, their hands went for their swords, though they didn’t draw them. Winter could appreciate that much restraint, at least. He opened his jaws slightly and smoke trickled between his lips.

“Who are you, and why have you come here?” he growled. The knights shivered in response, and one of them stepped forwards.

“We are Knights of the Stark Kingdom, and come bearing a request from His Excellency Viceroy Stane. As per ancient tradition we ask for your protection of the Crown Prince until such time as a worthy…”

“Yes, yes. I know the drill.” The knights looked relieved. “I refuse.” And then they looked crestfallen.

The head knight tried again. “We have brought tribute to you, O Great One, in hopes that….”

Winter growled, and the knight cut off his speech. “I do not like to repeat myself.”

“Of…. Of course.” The knight said with a bow. He started backing away, back towards where their horses were tied and the other knights followed. 

The prince looked up at Winter and frowned. “So, you’re just sending us away then?” he asked.

Winter growled again and the prince held up his hands. “Alright, I can take a hint. We’ll just take this tribute and go then.” He leaned down and grabbed the chest, only for his fingers to slip on the lid and let it fall open. “Oops.”

Though the chest was small, it held a dazzling array of gems and gold. Sparkly trinkets reflected the light and Winter found himself staring at it until the prince shut the lid with a snap and picked it back up.

“Clumsy me. Sorry.” The prince grinned as he picked up the chest and heaved it onto his shoulder. “I guess we’ll just be leaving now then.”

Winter growled and flared his wings, lifting off from the tower and landing heavily in front of the group. The knights jumped back slightly and one of them fell over before scrambling to his feet. The dragon leaned forward and sniffed at the prince and the chest. 

“I know what you’re doing,” he growled before blowing smoke into the Prince’s face. As the man coughed, Winter turned to the knights. “I formally accept and complete the transaction. Ensure that no unworthy suitors come seeking.” With that, he reached over and grasped both the prince and the chest in his claws before lifting off again, leaving the knights behind them.

*****

Tony fell to his knees as the dragon dropped him on the ground inside the old castle. He grunted and pulled himself to his feet, dusting the dirt off of his trousers. The ground shook slightly as the dragon landed near to him, the chest still clutched in his claws. The large creature shook his wings out before folding them back against his spine and turning so he could look at Tony.

He huffed and held the chest out to the prince. “Take that and follow me,” he said.

Tony shrugged and took the chest back into his arms. The dragon nodded and started walking towards the inner keep of the castle. Tony followed behind, watching the dragon walk. It had an odd cadence to it’s steps and he frowned.

“Are you alright?” he asked, trying to keep up.

The dragon ignored him and Tony shrugged before continuing to follow. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” 

The doors of the inner keep were massive. Enormous slabs of heavy wood, decorated with delicate looking metal ornamentation. The dragon walked up to them and leaned his shoulder against the junction. The doors were tall enough that there was still a good foot of door above his head. 

“Was this place built by giants?” Tony muttered to himself as he followed the dragon inside.

The dragon chuckled. “You do not remember the history of this land, then?” he asked.

“History?” Tony asked. “Well, yeah. I had tutors in that crap since I learned to speak. It was mostly boring though.” He looked around at the interior of the keep. It was enormous, with massive windows and tattered tapestries hanging on the walls. Ancient looking wooden benches and tables were shoved against the walls, years worth of caked on dust turning everything a muted gray color. The windows barely let in any light and the entire place felt more like a tomb than a great hall.  
“So… who lived here before you did then?” Tony looked up at the dragon again.

The dragon snorted. “Tutors, teachers. All humans, I presume,” he sighed. “The people who lived here were mostly humans, but there were plenty of other races as well. This place was designed for the comfort of all of them.”

“Humans lived with the other races?” Tony frowned. “I thought… well I’d always been told that they either wanted to keep to themselves or…”

“Or they were bloodthirsty beasts starting wars for no reason?” The dragon huffed. “Those rumors were spread by humans. There are some individuals who might fit those descriptions, but for the most part they desire peace. Much like you humans, at least usually.”

“Huh.” Tony shrugged. “That makes sense, I guess.”

The dragon huffed and turned to continue walking. Tony followed after another second, shifting the weight of the chest in his arms. The dragon reached the far corner of the hall and shouldered open another large door, this one leading to a set of stairs, just large enough for the dragon to wiggle his way up.

“So, what should I call you then? I mean, it would be rude to just call you ‘dragon’, right?” Tony followed him up the staircase and through one more door. Walking through it, he stood with his mouth open.

“Call me Winter,” The dragon grumbled as he walked into the room. 

“Alright then.” Tony said in a small voice. His steps echoed in the large room, not quite as large as the first one, but big enough that Winter could stand up all the way and stretch out fully. 

And every corner was filled with gold.

Light from the afternoon sun shined in from the high windows and glittered off the metal, giving the whole room a warm glow. Tony looked around in awe, the chest still clutched to his chest. Gold was, by far, the most common thing in the room, but he could see gilded chairs, large gemstones, silver coins, large paintings, and fine cloth. There was probably more hidden underneath the large piles of gold, he thought.

Winter huffed and moved to lay himself against one of the bigger piles. His tail flicked out and ran over another pile, causing the gold to clink together as it fell down the curve of the mound. The tail rested against the base of it, and the gold shifted over to cover the blue scales.

“You can put that chest over there,” the dragon muttered, moving one of his wings to gesture at the corner of the room closest to the door. At Tony’s nod, the dragon huffed again, a trickle of smoke leaving his nostrils. “Feel free to explore. I’m taking a nap.” With that, he let his head come to rest on the pile and closed his eyes.

Tony placed the chest on one of the old chairs, the wood creaking under the weight. A few of the coins on it fell off and Tony winced looking over at the dragon. Winter didn’t move and Tony breathed in relief. It wasn’t even midday and it had already been long. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at Winter.

He was a prince, watched over by a dragon.

At least the dragon was a pretty one, he thought. Dark blue scales on his back and legs and lighter ones on his belly. Large, dark horns curved off his head, a slight twist to them curving them inward again. Tony could see just the tip of his fangs poking out of the scaled mouth. The leathery wings tucked against his side were an even darker blue than the scales on his back. All over, a very impressive, and very intimidating creature.

Tony watched him for another moment before turning and making his way out of the room. It was probably better to not spend too much time that close to a dragon’s hoard. 

He’d need to tell him about Obediah soon if he ever wanted help. 

Tony brought his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his face. Well, that was a problem for later, anyway. He made his way back to the massive great hall, the doors proving difficult, but not quite impossible for him to shove open himself. The room was just as impressive as before, if no less dusty.

“Might as well explore,” he said to himself before walking over to one of the other doors leading off of the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

By the second day, Tony was bored.

Though built for beings much larger than himself, the keep was actually somewhat smaller than the one back home. So far, he’d found a smaller hall, stables, guard rooms which probably used to be the servants quarters, a couple storage rooms. The kitchen seemed to be under the room that Winter was sleeping in. There were a few other places that he hadn’t gotten to yet. The towers were all locked up, and there was one door off the courtyard that was so warped that it was hard stuck in place. 

He’d ended up sleeping in the old servants quarters, mostly because he hadn’t found a bed anywhere else yet. The room had been dusty, the bed hardly more than old blankets over rotting wooden slats, and he’d smelled something… off. And it was cold. Spring nights were not pleasant with poor bedding. He did not want to sleep in there again. That would be today’s task — finding a room. Preferably one with a decent bed.

He brushed the lingering dust off his clothes and made his way over to the stairs that led to the top of the walls. From the top, he could see the country around the castle. Like many castles, it was built with defense in mind, on the top of a hill with a clear view of the surroundings. The landscape was beautiful. Rolling hills to the curving around the south and east that used to be farmland and thick forest on the other side. There was probably good hunting there, Tony mused, there wouldn’t have been big hunts there for years. 

He walked on, making his way across the battlements. The rocks were mostly stable, though starting to weather and crumble a bit. He made sure not to get too close to the edge, just in case. The morning air blew gently against him, moving his hair against his cheek. He shivered a little, the last bit of winter still lingering in the air blowing into his fancy, but thin clothes.

“Adding that to the list,” Tony said quietly, stretching his arms above his head. He heard a satisfying crack and sighed before shaking his limbs out and starting his way back along the wall. It continued all across the edge of the castle, though the edge of the keep where Winter had taken him yesterday was built to share a wall with it, and it reached up all the way to almost share the same height as the towers that stood at each corner. Connecting the wall to the keep was a ladder built into the stonework.

Tony grinned and made his way over to it. “There should be a nice view from up here.”

Making his way to the highest point, Tony took a second to admire the view again before he turned and looked back at the castle. The layout was pretty simple and he could see the places he’d explored yesterday pretty easily. Studying the rest of the area, he could see a few promising areas. He also needed to make sure to explore the rest of the keep, but, of course, there was also a dragon there, and he definitely didn’t want to make his new landlord angry. Not yet anyway. 

Nodding to himself, he decided on a promising area to start exploring and started making his way back down the roof, not really caring where his feet were placed anymore. Not until the roof gave an ominous creak underneath him. The wooden beams that supported the roof groaned and snapped.

Tony screamed as he fell, roofing and wooden splinters surrounding him. He closed his eyes, expecting to meet the cold stone floor. 

Instead, he heard the broken wood clatter to the floor as he fell into the paw of the dragon.

“Ow.” Tony grunted.

Winter looked down at him and blinked. “What are you doing?”

“Um.” Tony tried to sit up and groaned. He may have not hit the floor, but that still hurt. “I was exploring.”

“Exploring?” Winter snorted. “On the roof?”

Tony shrugged. “Yes? The view is lovely.” He looked down at the ground, still quite a ways below him. The wood beams laid broken on the piles of treasure. “Can you put me down now?”

Winter brought his paw to the ground and let Tony slide out of it. He stood and stretched. His back was definitely bruised, but it didn’t feel like anything worse than that had happened. He turned around to look at the dragon to thank him and paused.

“You’re missing a leg,” he said, then slapped a hand over his mouth. He must have hit his head on the way down. Jarvis, his old man servant, would have his head for being so blunt.

Winter chuckled lowly, taking a deep breath before looking back up at Tony. “It is an old wound and not something to concern yourself with. I will be able to protect you well enough even were I to be missing more than one limb.”

Tony grimaced and shook his head. “That was not my concern. I only just wondered…”

“What were you really doing on the roof?” Winter interrupted.

“The roof? Oh. I was just trying to get a better look at the rest of this place.” Tony frowned, remembering his rough night. “I was hoping to find a more comfortable place to sleep, and maybe something to do other than wander.”

“Where did you spend last night then?” Winter’s already deep voice took another edge to it, and Tony took a small step back.

“Um… the, uh. I think it was the old servant quarters.” Tony rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn’t great.”

Winter’s large eyes closed and a great billow of smoke poured from his nostrils in a sigh. “Of course not. No one has slept there in ages. I’m surprised you could get in there.” The dragon pulled himself to his feet, gold coins pouring off of him and clinking together as they fell to the floor. Walking over to the corner of the room, Winter swept his tail over part of the floor that was covered in a pile of somewhat dusty furs and more gold. A cloud of dust billowed from the furs, but beneath them was a small, padded mattress. Against the wall stood a sturdy desk, also covered in the dust that seemed to be laid across everything in this castle. Winter picked up a few of the furs in his claws and swung them around.

“These may need to be aired out a bit, but you are welcome to this space, if you wish.” Winter placed the furs back on the mattress. 

Tony grinned and walked over to it, pulling one of the less dusty furs over himself. “This is fantastic!”

Winter’s rumbling laughter echoed around the room. “I am glad it meets your approval.” He turned and started making his way out of the room. “Now come.”

Tony turned to follow him, keeping the fur over his shoulders like a cape. It was still a chilly morning, and after his cold night he was very much enjoying the warmth. 

Winter retraced their steps from yesterday and walked them back out to the courtyard. Turning left, the dragon walked almost to the far tower. Nestled between the walls of the tower and of the short building next to it was a low well. 

“You can use this to draw water,” Winter said. Turning, he led Tony to the front of the short building. “And the wash basin is here, should you need it. There should be twine in there that you can use to hang wet things.”

Tony grinned, he’d snuck out of the castle to do lots of things, but while he’d watched the maids wash clothes and linens before, he’d never been able to get away with helping them. It had looked fun though.

Winter snorted at him and turned away again, beginning to make his way back to the keep. Pausing for a moment, he turned to look at the prince. “You wanted something else to do, as well?”

Tony’s grin widened. “Not anything big, I don’t want to leave or anything, but it can get a little dull just being by myself all the time.”

Nodding, Winter shrugged. “I can show you some other places, if you like.” He nodded back to the building the wash basin stood in front of. “That is the bake house. There is also the kitchen and the granary. There are guard rooms and storage rooms all over as well. And of course the smithy.” 

“A smithy!” Tony’s smile almost seemed to split his face. “Can you show me that.”

Winter blinked at him. “You enjoy blacksmith work?” he asked.

Tony nodded, his grin fading slightly. “It’s not a very princely activity, I know.” He rubbed the back of his neck again, then swiftly pulled them down and clasped his hands together tightly instead. “I’m a fair hand at it though. I could probably fix up some of the stuff around here.”

Winter stared at him for another moment and Tony shuffled his foot in the dust, lowering his gaze slightly. Then the dragon shrugged. “Do as you please. I care not.” He turned and walked over along the buildings on the same wall as the bake house. “This building is the chapel,” Winter said as they walked through one of the doors. Inside were a few long wooden benches, also covered in a thick layer of dust. Winter turned and shoved the door leading off the room open. “And here is the smithy.”

Tony made his way past Winter and looked into the room. It was just as dusty as the chapel it was attached to. There was some light that came in from a few high windows and one larger one with heavy shutters and Tony could see some of the lever and pulley systems that showed where the cistern fed into the room and which worked the bellows that fed the forge. Tony grinned. It would take some fixing up, but this would be fantastic.

“The armor cleaning workshop is up those stairs,” Winter said from behind him. “There may still be materials up there, though I could not tell you of their condition. You are welcome to any of them, and to any other materials you find through the castle, barring from my hoard.”

Tony turned on his heel and rushed at Winter, wrapping his arms around the dragon’s muzzle. 

“Thank you,” Tony said fervently before turning back to the workshop with a grin.

Winter stood, frozen for a moment before he pulled back into the chapel behind him. “Of course,” he muttered quietly, watching Tony rush excitedly around the room. He was muttering quietly to himself, making a note of everything that would need to be repaired or replaced before he could get the forge up and running again. Winter shook his head and made his way back out to the courtyard and then he opened his wings. He’d have to repair the roof before night fell, and remind Tony that he would need to clean his bedding before he would be able to sleep comfortably as well.


	3. Chapter 3

That afternoon it became apparent that Tony did NOT like doing laundry.

Winter chuckled to himself as he watched the young prince struggle with the wet bedding. The dusty ones were easy enough to hang up and beat, but there were a few with more than dirt on them along with a few quilts and linens which were in desperate need of a good wash. This is what the prince was struggling with currently.

“Ahh!” Tony yelled as, yet again, the soaking wet quilt fell off the line and slopped itself over the prince’s head. He struggled to pull the heavy blanket off and sighed as it fell to the ground, now streaked with mud again. Frowning, he dragged it back over to the wash basin and threw it into the water. This, of course, caused a wave to slosh over the edge and onto Tony who groaned again as his wet clothes were soaked once more.

Tony rubbed his hands over his face, streaking them with the mud from the dirty blanket. He took a deep breath and blew out between his palms before he pulled them away and clapped his hands together. “Alright. Let’s do this again.”

Winter watched him struggle with the quilt, for the third time now. Finally, Tony threw it across the line and it stayed up, not even brushing the ground. Tony cheered in triumph before he turned back to the pile of dirty bedding to get started on the next one. 

After seeing the prince finally triumph, Winter turned back to his own task. The hole in the roof wasn’t a large one, but it appeared that there was a deeper problem if the mere weight of the prince was enough to cause him to fall through it. Looking closer, Winter realized that this particular area had probably been in need of repair for a while. There was wood rot in part of the beam and the wood tiles that made up the rest of the roof were old and falling apart under his claws. Winter grimaced as more of the hole fell into his hoard underneath. This probably needed more fixing than he was capable of doing himself. He’d probably need to move his hoard to another part of the castle. That was going to be a pain.

The dragon sighed and made his way down the wall of the keep. For now, there was some oiled canvas that he could probably use to patch it up. Making his way down to the storage rooms he began shuffling through all the old materials to find something large enough to cover the hole.

Winter’s search took most of the rest of the day. The sun was well on it’s way across the sky and he estimated only a few more hours until it set. He dragged a large piece of canvas behind him as he climbed back up the keep. It didn’t take long to set it over the hole in the roof and pin it down so it wouldn’t blow away. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would last long enough for him to decide where to move his hoard.

The dragon sighed and looked down at the courtyard, expecting to see the prince still struggling with the bedding. Surprisingly, though, he didn’t see the young man. The blankets and furs were all hanging up and drying and appeared to be adequately cleaned. Winter glanced around, but didn’t see the prince anywhere. The dragon shrugged, the prince would eventually need to sleep and he didn’t really care where he went. He clawed his way down the keep and back to the doors to return to inventory his hoard. He’d need to make sure he knew every piece of it so nothing got lost in the move, after all.

***

The sun was well and truly set and darkness had covered the land for a while when Tony finally returned to Winter’s room. The young prince carried the scent of oil and sweat with him as he pulled a few of the drier quilts after him. He walked straight over to the mattress and collapsed onto it, allowing the blankets to fall over him. His breathing deepened almost immediately. 

Winter chuckled quietly and curled tighter around his hoard before he allowed himself to fall asleep as well.

The next few days passed in much the same way. Tony would leave in the early morning, usually just after sunrise, and not reappear until long after the sun had set. Winter stopped noticing it as much and spent much of his time looking for a new place to store his hoard. The nights were gradually starting to get warmer and the weather was holding, so it wasn’t his greatest concern, but it would be necessary soon.

When he woke early a few days after Tony had fallen through the roof, Winter noticed that the Prince was already missing. It was still dark out, though the first signs of sunrise could be seen through the windows. It was earlier than the prince usually left, but the dragon just shrugged. As long as the prince didn’t fall on his head again it was fine. Digging his way back into the treasure he sighed and let himself fall back to sleep.

A few hours later, he was woken again by something falling on his head. Pulling his head out of his hoard, he could see that light was streaming through the windows and Winter could see that it was almost midday. He shook his head and growled, looking around to see what had fallen on his head.

It was a large piece of the wooden ceiling supports. Looking around the ground, Winter spotted more debris around the hoard. Looking up, he spotted the culprit.

The oiled canvas had been removed, and a great deal of the bad wood had already been cut out of the way as well. He could see the prince sawing his way through more of it.

“Hey! Sorry about that log. I’ve been trying to keep them from falling on you, but that last one fell before I thought it would. Are you alright?” Tony called down.

“I’m fine.” Winter said. “What are you doing?”

Tony grinned, letting another small piece fall through the hole. “You’ll see.” Another few pieces fell before Tony stuck his head back through the hole. “Actually, could you tell me when I have all the rotten wood clear, and how much I have left? I can’t see very well from this angle and I don’t want to miss anything.”

Winter shrugged and pointed out a few places. Tony had already gotten most of the area and it wasn’t long before he was finished clearing out all the rot.

“Awesome!” Tony crowed. “Now to the next bit.” The hand saw started moving again, this time in a large, circular pattern, cutting even more of the roof away.

“Why are you cutting more of the roof out? The hole lets in enough cold as it is.” Winter grumped.

“It’s not big enough though.” Tony panted as he continued cutting. “You might want to back up a bit, this piece is probably gonna fall hard. I don’t have to worry about only cutting small chunks now that you’re awake.”

Winter sighed, but moved out of the way, sweeping his hoard out from under the hole with his tail as he moved. It seemed the young prince wasn’t going to tell him what he was doing until he was good and ready.

The section of roof fell soon enough, shattering as it met the floor and spreading dust all over the room. Winter snorted to clear out his nose and looked up to meet Tony’s grinning face.

“That was awesome,” Tony said before disappearing once again.

Winter shrugged and began brushing up the debris with his tail. He’d have to sift through his hoard to get some of it. He sighed, that would make moving it even more of a nuisance. 

More sounds came from the roof, sounding clearly through the rather large hole now taking up space above his hoard. Winter huffed, but sat back to watch.

Through the course of the day, the hole gained edging around the sides, covering the sharp corners of the roof. A series of chains and weights were fed through a smaller hole in one corner which had also been edged like the large one and covered in a metal hood of sorts. 

“You’ve been busy,” Winter commented as he glimpsed Tony through the large hole.

Tony laughed. “You could say that. The smithy is fantastic. It just needed a little love.”

Winter nodded. “Will you tell me what you are doing now?”

Tony shook his head. “Not quite, though I’ll need your help in a moment, if you’d like to come up?” Shrugging, Winter got to his feet and started making his way to the door. “Oh, not that way,” Tony called down. “You should be able to come up through the hole, yeah?”

The dragon glanced up in surprise and looked at the hole more closely. Now that he thought about it, he should probably be able to leap upwards and fit through the opening just fine. Crouching, he readied his rear legs behind him before he lept up through the hole, landing on the roof just beyond it neatly. He looked back at the hole and down into his hoard. That had been very convenient. It was too bad that the hole would need to be covered up if he were going to stay there much longer.

“What do you need of me?” The dragon asked, looking back at the prince who had a grin so large that it threatened to split his face.

Tony jumped up from where he’d been sitting with his legs crossed and ran over to the edge of the roof and hopped down the ladder to the wall. There, he came to a stop next to a large structure. Winter had no idea how he’d gotten the thing up this far. It was huge, exactly large enough to cover the hole with just a bit to spare. The structure was domed, like a bowl turned over with one side flattened. The lip of it was edged in what looked like supple leather.

“And what do you want me to do with that?” Winter wondered aloud.

“Just need you to lift it onto the roof, and place it over the hole.” Tony grinned. I’ll take care of it after that.”

Winter nodded and grabbed the structure, easily bringing it up to the roof and placing it over the roof. He watched as Tony turned it to where he wanted it and connected it to the chains he’d already draped over the roof. The prince grinned when he finished connecting the chains and ran back over to the ladder before dashing along the wall, down the stairs, and back into the keep. Winter could hear him messing with the chains below. A moment later there was the sound of the chains grating against each other and the large structure that sat over the hole started pulling open. Looking down, Winter could see Tony’s grinning face staring at him through the hole.

“What do you think?!” The prince called up.

“What is it?” Winter answered.

“It’s a door!” Tony answered, his grin not fading. “Now you can just fly in and you don’t have to crawl through the keep. It’ll open from out there and in here. I’ll show you how to control it.”

Winter blinked. That was brilliant. Being able to fly directly to his hoard would save him both time and effort, especially to react to trespassers, if necessary.

The dragon grinned down at the prince and dove through the hole to land next to him in a poof of dust. Leaning his head down, he touched his nose to Tony’s forehead. 

“My thanks, little Prince,” he said gently.

The skin beneath his nose grew warmer as he held it there for a moment before pulling away and looking at his charge who had turned a few shades pinker than he had been.

“Yeah. No problem.” Tony said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m glad you like it.”

“It is splendid,” Winter corrected and watched the blush deepen.

“It’s not that great. I just wanted to fix the hole I made, and I figured why not make it more useful.” Tony shrugged and coughed into his hand. “I better get back to the smithy though, I kind of left it in a mess. Excited, you know?”

Winter nodded and watched the prince rush from the room, the back of his neck the same shade of pink as his face. The dragon snorted, amused. He forgot sometimes how amusing it could be to be around humans sometimes. They were so reactive.

Looking over at the new mechanism installed in the corner of the room, Winter noted that it really wasn’t that difficult to figure out. A simple matter of pulleys and counterbalances to keep the opening open or closed as he saw fit. He was impressed, the prince had planned and built this in just a few days and needed very little adjustment from putting it together. Each part worked smoothly together. He experimented for a while, opening and closing the mechanism from both ends multiple times. Most impressive indeed.

He really should go and thank the prince again, the dragon mused. He’d said he was going to clean up the smithy. Winter nodded and flew off the roof after closing the opening again. He walked over to the old chapel and made his way to the smithy. He could hear clanging from inside, metal clashing together. He hummed and nosed the door open.

He opened his mouth to compliment the young prince’s work, but stopped as soon as he saw what was in front of him.

Tony stood, frozen, holding the metal skeleton of a dragon forearm and claw.


	4. Chapter 4

The dragon and prince stared at each other. Slowly, Tony put the skeletal structure down on the work table and held out his hands.

“Um… I can explain?” he said slowly.

The dragon kept his gaze locked on the metallic arm, his breathing coming slowly. Tony could see curls of smoke coming occasionally from his nostrils.

“You see I…. I know it’s probably difficult to get around with a missing limb, not that you’ve had trouble with it from what I’ve seen! But it’s got to be uncomfortable, right? Or at least annoying? And I just thought, that maybe, I could help a bit? Or… something…?” Tony trailed off. The dragon still hadn’t moved. “Are… are you angry? If you don’t want it I can just melt it back down and we can forget about it.” He trailed off again, letting the silence fill back into the room. The warmth of the forge behind him was becoming overwhelming and sweat dripped down his forehead. 

“Why?” Winter growled.

Tony started. “Huh?”

“Why are you making things for me?” The dragon’s growl grew deeper.

Tony’s eyes widened and he backed up until his back met the worktable. He placed his hands behind him and gripped it, his knuckles growing pale. “I just wanted to help,” he said quietly.

Winter growled again, moving further into the small space. “That is not all. Do you feel pity? Pity for a broken being?” His claws dug into the stone floor, carving shallow gouges into it. 

Tony’s brow furrowed. “What? Pity? No. No! How could I pity you? You obviously have gotten along just fine up till now.”

Winter snarled, lifting his upper lip to show his teeth. “Then why?”

Tony grimaced. “Ah. Well,” he sighed. “I really do just want to help. Be useful, you know?” He shrugged. “I enjoy making things. I haven’t had much opportunity to do a lot of it, but it’s something I could actually do. Be in control of.” Tony took a deep breath. “Look. There’s a lot that you don’t know. The kingdom is in trouble. I’m the heir, but honestly I have no power right now. I need help to fix it because if I try to do it myself I’m going to end up getting killed. Screwing up one plan already got one friend of mine murdered and got me stuck here.”

“So you were hoping to bribe me into helping?” Winter said flatly.

“Not exactly. I really wanted to help, but I thought that maybe you’d be more willing to hear me out if I was useful?” Tony bit his lip. “I really didn’t mean to insult you.”

Winter stared at the prince for another moment, watching him shuffle his feet and curl into himself bit by bit as time passed. Finally, he snorted, letting smoke trail into the room and float to the ceiling. “Alright then. Apology accepted.”

Tony looked up sharply and grinned. “Then..?”

“But I have no intention of helping you with your other problems.” Winter continued. “I’ve had enough trouble with kingdoms and unrighteous rulers to last a lifetime.” 

Tony’s face fell, but he nodded. “I get it. It was a long shot anyway.” Turning, he looked back over at the beginnings of the arm. “I’d still like to continue on that though, if you don’t mind. Or if you can use it? I get bored with nothing to do, and I’d like to be doing something productive, at least.”

Winter stared at the prince again, trying to find any sort of lie in his face or any trace of pity. The prince just smiled at him, still a little tight at the edge of his eyes, but he seemed sincere. “Alright,” he finally said. “But I would like to be involved as well. A lifeless piece of metal attached to me would be worse than no limb at all.”

Tony huffed. “I think I can do better than just a ‘lifeless piece of metal’, but I’d welcome the company anyway.” He winked at the dragon and then turned back to the forge. “Do you want to see the plans I have so far?”

Winter nodded and moved further into the room, stretching his neck to see the papers in Tony’s hands.

The days began to pass quickly with Winter and Tony working on the arm. Winter had already seen some of the prince’s ingenuity with his work on the roof, but working with him on a project was another experience entirely. The prince seemed to have boundless energy while working on a project, and more than once, Winter had to call for brakes to eat or rest because the prince would forget them entirely in his excitement. 

It was easy to become fond of him at those times. His eyes shining with a new idea and its implementation. 

He was easy to talk to, as well. Winter had not had long discussions with any other being for many years, and the prince was spoiling him with his company. Their discussion began spilling over from the forge and into the evening hours before they would go to sleep. In the dark, it was easy to fall into topics that were less comfortable. Winter learned of Tony’s parents, of their deaths years before and his sheltered life until recently. He was told of how Tony discovered his regent’s treachery. That night tears had been shed when he described how he had confronted Obediah, the man who raised Tony along with his parents. In the following conflict, Tony had been beaten and bound, and his lifelong guardian, Jarvis, had been killed in front of him in an attempt to make him more pliable. That was when Obediah had declared that Tony would be married off to someone of his choosing. At Tony’s refusal, he’d been sent to Winter’s castle.

This information came to be particularly important a week after they’d started working on the arm together.

The forge was loud. The sound of the bellows, the banging of the hammer, the hissing of hot metal being plunged in water. Hearing and speaking became secondary at times and it was difficult for even Winter’s hearing to pick up any sound from outside the small room.

So by the time Tony realized that someone was yelling from outside the keep, they’d probably been at it for awhile.

Tony looked up from the bit of their project that he’d currently been working on and sighed.

“Is it that time already?” he asked.

Winter shrugged. “I expected the first ones earlier than this. From what you’ve told me of your uncle he doesn’t seem the patient type.”

Tony shrugged. “You’re right about that.” Setting aside his tools he stretched. “Well, might as well go see who he sent and tell them off. I can’t go home with the first one anyway.”

Winter huffed, but pulled his head out of the forge so Tony could leave. They made their way up to the main stairs, Winter was content to let Tony take the lead on this. From previous experience, dealing with knights who had come after the ‘captive’ prince or princess was nothing but a bother anyway.

When Tony finally looked down from his spot on the wall he groaned. “Oh great, it’s Justin.”

The knight looked up and grinned when he saw Tony. “My prince!” he called. “It is wonderful to see you in such good health! I had feared that living with the dragon would have more of a negative effect on your countenance!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, um, no. I’m actually rather comfortable here.”

“Truly?” Justin called back. “That is, indeed, grand news. We shall have to tell your uncle upon our return how accommodating the beast has been. Now, where is the dragon that I, Knight Hammer, may battle with it and earn the right to bring you home?!”

Tony turned to Winter and the dragon laughed to see the look on his face. He, very apparently, believed that the knight was quite incapable of accomplishing such a thing. Shrugging, Tony turned back to the knight.

“Dragons busy, come back later,” he said.

“What?” the knight replied. “Perhaps I heard you wrong.”

“Nope!” Tony called. “I told you, I’m fine here. Gonna stay a bit longer, so, uh, yeah. No point in having you fight the dragon right now anyway.”

“But I’m supposed to rescue you.” The knight was getting angry now. “The dragon has forced you to say these things! Do not worry, I shall release you from him!”

“I just said. Ugh.” Tony groaned as the knight charged the walls of the keep. “Whatever.” He turned back to the dragon and shrugged. “Let’s get back to work, huh? I don’t think he’s gonna leave anytime soon.”

Winter huffed but followed the prince back to the forge leaving the knight to throw himself against the wall.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony groaned and threw his hammer to the ground. “Well, that’s it then,” he sighed.

Winter lifted his head from where he’d been resting against the workshop floor and looked at the prince. On the table in front of him looked to be a whole foreleg made from metal. The plates fit together almost seamlessly. Underneath, Winter knew, lied a complex collection of joints and gears to allow it to move together, controlling even the small movements of the clawed appendages. 

“Looks fine to me,” he rumbled softly. “ What’s wrong with it?”

“Everything’s wrong with it!” Tony threw his arms up into the air. “I can get it to move and shift and it’ll hold weight fine, but it’ll never be more than a hunk of metal. I’m sorry. I just… It needs something to help it move. A power source or a connection and I don’t know what it is.” His hands fell into his hair and he pulled at the strands. “I don’t think it’ll ever move the way it needs to.”

Winter stared at him for a moment, then nodded and pulled himself to his feet. Pushing further into the room, he looked over the finished leg. He hummed quietly and pressed his nose against the plates and closed his eyes. A moment later he stepped back and looked at the prince. 

“It’s possible,” he said and Tony looked up.

“What?”

Winter nodded. “I can make it work. Is it finished, but for that?”

Tony nodded, slowly. “Yes. I just need to tweak it a bit once it’s in place, but, technically, it’s done. But how are you going to get it to work?”

“Let me worry about that,” the dragon responded. “For now, would you put it into place.” He held out the worn stump of his leg. Tony nodded again, then reached for the metallic leg. Clipping it to the pulley system he’d set up to move it around, he lifted it from the table and brought it around so that Winter could slip his stump into the cupped and padded depression. After that, it was just a matter of tightening a few sections and slipping a leather support over Winter’s shoulders before it was solidly attached. 

Tony stepped back to take a look and Winter gave him a toothy grin. Winter placed his nonresponsive new leg on the ground and started applying a little weight to it. The joints creaked slightly as they were forced into a new position, but it held well and allowed Winter to distribute his weight evenly for the first time in decades. The dragon sighed and dug his remaining foreclaws into the floor of the workshop.

“Did you know that dragons have magic beyond breathing fire?” The dragon asked. Tony shook his head and the dragon grinned. “No, I’d guessed so. We have a variety of magics. The strongest of which is connected directly to our hoards.” He leaned down so that his face was even with Tony’s. “Run to my hoard and bring me a selection of gems.”

The prince nodded and ran off, slipping on his way out of the forge. Winter laughed and resettled his weight, relishing in the new feeling. The prosthetic pinched a little, but it was a perfect fit around the old remains of his leg. The prince really did know what he was doing.

A few moments later Tony returned, his tunic held out in front of him cradling a small fortune in gems. Rubies, sapphires, topaz, tourmaline, peridot, diamond, emerald, and opal all glinted from the cloth. Winter nodded, “excellent choices.” Shifting his weight to hold only on the prosthetic, he reached over with a claw to shift through the gems until he picked out a large, blood-red, garnet. “This one should work just fine. Would you fit it on the metal?”

Tony nodded and placed the other gems he had gathered on the table behind him before he took the gem carefully in his hand before kneeling next to the arm they’d created. He fit the stone into a slight depression that Winter had insisted he put in the upper portion of the prosthetic before stepping back.

“Do you know how garnets are formed?” Winter asked him. When Tony shook his head Winter nodded. “When certain rocks are pushed deep under the Earth they are subjected to massive amounts of pressure and heat. As these forces grow, so do the crystals of the garnet, until they can reach the size of this one.” As Winter finished talking, he leaned down and pressed his nose against the gem. “These stones remember that process and they hold that energy, which can be released by proper use of dragon magic, like this.” 

With the last word, Winter closed his eyes. At first, it didn’t seem like anything was happening, then Tony noticed a blue light starting to gather around Winter’s muzzle. As he watched, the glow brightened, then started to spill over the dragon’s nose and fall onto the gem. When the first drops of the light hit it, they turned purple and spread out to cover the prosthetic. As more light spilled, the color turned from purple to a deep cobalt. When the whole prosthetic was covered, Winter pulled back from the gem, leaving the light to pulse around the metal before he breathed over it and the light seeped into the cracks. A moment later the garnet started to glow with a subdued red light and the cracks between the plates of the arm glowed with the deep cobalt light.

Tony’s mouth dropped when Winter reached out with the metal arm and touched him on the forehead.

“I told you it would work,” the dragon said softly. “You did a good job with it. It moves very smoothly.” 

Tony’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally let out a loud whoop. Dancing around the forge he cried, “It works! Holy flipping crap, it works!” The prince laughed and skipped back up to the dragon. “It actually works!”

Winter laughed. “Yes.” He paused and turned to look out the window. “Would you like to go and test it?”

“YES!” Tony shouted and dashed out the door of the workshop. 

Winter chuckled and followed the prince outside. Tony was standing by the water basin again, trying to set up a collection of buckets. 

“Okay, so I was thinking. First we should test it’s reactions to different materials, right? Like water and stuff and then see how it does with durability and crushing stone and things like that. What do you think?” The prince turned to the dragon with a grin.

“I was thinking of something a little different,” the dragon said before scooping Tony up with his new arm and placing him on his back.

“Whoa!” Tony yelled before grabbing onto the mane in front of him. He was seated in a small area just behind the dragon’s neck where there was a spot just right for him to stay seated.

“Hold on.” Winter rumbled before he crouched and then kicked off and launched into the air.

Tony screamed at the sudden movement, and the rush of air around him. When they reached a decent height, Winter stopped accelerating so quickly and looked back at the prince. His face was pink from yelling and from the wind and his eyes were bright.

“Having fun?” the dragon asked.

“Hell yeah!” Tony shouted back. “Let’s go!”

Winter chuckled and twisted so they flew down into a dive. Behind him, he could barely hear Tony’s shouts as they were caught away by the wind. He pulled up just before they would have hit the ground and Tony whooped as Winter pulled them into a slow corkscrew upwards and then into a series of loops.

They continued like that for a while before Winter started to feel an ache beginning in his wings. It had been a long while since he had put this much effort into flying. Slowing for a moment, he turned back to look at the prince again. Tony’s fingers were starting to turn pale from gripping so hard and from the cold. His nose and cheek bones were also beginning to turn red. 

“I think it’s time for a break,” Winter said and Tony nodded. Winter looked down and spotted a spot of pink against the green fields below them. They were quite a ways away from the castle now. Circling slowly, Winter made his descent and came to rest just under the blooming cherry tree.

Tony slipped off his back and fell to the ground with a laugh. “That was amazing! I mean, I can’t feel my fingers or my legs, but that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done!” The prince laughed again before collapsing against the dragon’s side.

“I am glad that you enjoyed it. Flying is one of life’s true pleasures.” Winter grinned and pulled his head over to nudge the price. “Are you sure you're alright? The first flight can have problems sometimes.”

“Right as rain!” Tony grinned at him. “How’s the arm holding up?”

“Very well,” the dragon responded. He stretched out the metal limb for Tony to see, the blue light still glowing from the inside.

“Good.” The prince nodded and leaned his full weight against the dragon. Winter pulled his head over and, slowly, placed his head in Tony’s lap.

“Thank you,” the dragon said quietly.

“Thank you,” the prince responded. Tony leaned down and placed his palms against the dragon’s scaly jaws before placing a soft kiss against his scales.


	6. Chapter 6

The flying trip and the kiss started a new pattern between the dragon and the prince. That evening, Tony drug his bedding closer to where the dragon usually slept and Winter curled himself around the prince, laying his head next to him. The days that followed included more flights in the areas around the keep and Tony gradually learned how to shift his weight while Winter flew and eventually, his muscles were less sore by the end of their flights.

The prince also took one of the old furs from his bedding and made a needle in the forge so that he could cut the fur into a very simple jacket with sleeves long enough to cover his hands as he held onto Winter’s mane. 

With his new equipment and Winter’s new limb, flights became longer and more frequent, traveling farther and farther.

One day, Tony gathered up some food and blankets into an old basket and they took off to fly as far out as they could. Tony looked down as they flew, the wide plains speeding under them and giving way to a wide forest. Tony ate a bit while Winter flew on, and by the time the sun started to set, Tony could see mountains stretching up in the distance, and below them the forest stretched to the other horizon. 

“Where are we?” Tony asked asked Winter looked for a place to land.

“Far outside the realm of your kingdom,” the dragon answered. “Very few humans have entered or seen this forest, to my knowledge, and the mountains in the distance were my home, a long time ago. We will go no closer to them.” Winter spotted a clearing below and made his way down to it and landed. 

Tony jumped off the dragon’s back and landed on the soft forest floor. The ground was covered in thick moss and smelled pleasantly earthy. 

“Why is that? You don’t want to go home?” Tony asked.

Winter shook his head. “It is no longer my home, and has not been for an age.” The dragon sighed. “I left because there was nothing left for me there. The dragons who once lived in that place were either slaughtered or driven off. That day was when I lost my leg.”

“Ah.” Tony nodded. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to go back then.”

Winter nodded. “It holds many memories, not all of them quite as painful, but I do not wish to return.”

The light around them began to fade and Tony brought out more of the food from the basket. There was plenty to make a decent meal for him, and even toss a few morsels of dried meat to Winter, though he insisted that he was not hungry.

“Dragons need only eat occasionally,” Winter claimed.

Tony shrugged but continued to toss bits for the dragon to catch between his jaws anyway.

When full dark covered the clearing, Tony brought out the thick blankets he had brought with them and walked over to where Winter was curled. Placing one blanket on the ground, he curled himself up next to the warmth of Winter’s belly and covered himself with the other blanket. In response, Winter brought his head to lie next to the prince and laid one of his wings over them. Tony curled his fingers into the mane at the top of the dragon’s head and the pair of them quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, Tony woke to a dim light, shining through the blue membrane of Winter’s wing. Poking the dragon’s head, Tony stretched. Winter blinked his eyes at him, then removed his wing so that Tony had more room before he uncurled himself. Tony laughed when he looked up and saw the dragon stretching himself like the palace cats would after waking from a nap.

After a quick breakfast, Tony started packing away the leftover food and blankets.

“Guess we should start heading out if we want to get back before the sun sets, huh?” he asked.

Winter nodded and yawned. “Probably. This was pleasant though. It has been awhile since I have slept surrounded by the trees.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah. It’s nice here. Maybe we can come back sometime?”

Winter grinned. “I think that can be arranged.”

Tony’s responding smile was almost as wide as the dragon’s own as he scrambled onto his place on the dragon’s back. “I’d like that.”

The prince laughed as the dragon launched himself once again in the air to begin their journey home.

The return trip took almost the whole day and by the time they got home the sun was well on it’s way across the sky again. Looking down at the castle, Tony grinned to see his handiwork on the roof. As Winter got closer to the ground, however, Tony spotted something else.

Standing at the front gate was a horse and another knight. 

“Crap,” Tony muttered, shoving his head into Winter’s mane.

“What is it?” Winter asked.

“Knight Stone,” Tony groaned. “He’s more stubborn than Hammer.”

Winter nodded and flew down to land in the courtyard. Without the wind whistling next to his ears, Tony could hear the knight’s shouts from beyond the gate. Tony stretched for a moment before sighing and making his way over to the stairs leading up to the wall. Leaning over the ramparts, he could see the knight below him.

“Tiberius Stone!” Tony called down. “What are you doing here? I told Justin that I didn’t need rescuing!”

“I have been waiting here since dawn!” The knight responded. “Where have you been, Prince Stark?” Tony grimaced at his tone. This particular knight had always sounded much too similar to his uncle for comfort, and right now he was mimicking the ‘I’m so disappointed in your behavior, why can’t you be a proper prince for once’ voice. 

“Uh, yeah. We were out,” Tony replied. “Anyway, like I already said, I don’t need a rescue anyway. I’m perfectly fine staying right here for now if it’s all the same to you. Thanks.”

The knight’s already tense tone took on a further aggravated edge. “Prince Anthony. Your uncle sent you here specifically for you to find a spouse. It is your responsibility to accept the knight which can rescue you from the dragon and return you to the kingdom. This is tradition!”

“I don’t give a flying buttress about tradition! I refuse to leave with a knight hand picked by my uncle to turn me into some sort of puppet figurehead king!” Tony shouted, leaning over the stone of the keep.

Tiberius' face grew red. “I see,” he snarled. “Then, if you refuse to be rescued then you may rot here!” He reached behind him and pulled out his bow and knocked an arrow, pulling it back to his cheek. Just as he loosed the arrow, a great roar echoed around the keep. The knight jolted, and the arrow flew uselessly off into the wall. 

The knight looked up, shaking, as the enormous figure of the dragon climbed up onto the wall behind the prince. 

“I believe your welcome has run out,” the dragon growled lowly. “Leave now and you may keep your life.”

Tiberius nodded and turned abruptly, leaping onto his horse and urging it to bolt away from the castle. The prince and the dragon watched as the figure grew smaller in the distance.

“You know,” Tony remarked. “I’m rather impressed that his horse didn’t move when you first showed up.

Winter chuckled. “Horses are rather more intelligent than you give them credit for. He knew I meant him no harm.”

Tony nodded and watched as the knight disappeared into the distance. “Welp,” he said. “I’m hungry. Dinner?”

The dragon laughed again, but turned around and led the way back into the keep and towards the kitchens.

After a full day of flying, both of them were tired and fell asleep quickly after Tony ate dinner, curled up together, as usual.

A few hours later, they both woke suddenly to the sound of an explosion coming from outside the keep.

BOOM

“What was that?!” Toy shouted, bolting straight up and pushing Winter’s head off of his lap. Winter pulled himself to his feet and quickly opened the ceiling cover to fly out.

“I’ll go check it out,” the dragon said before launching himself through the roof. 

Tony looked after him and folded his arms. Like hell he was just waiting for the dragon to get back. He turned around and started heading out of the room. He walked down the stairs to the main entry hall and shouldered open the door.

As he walked through, he was met by a shining silver blade.

“Hello, dear prince,” Tiberius said as he plunged a dagger into the middle of Tony’s chest.

All of the air exited Tony’s body at once and he crumpled to the ground. The stone was cold underneath him and the blade felt hot, white hot. Like he had just taken it out of the forge when it was forced into his chest. 

Tiberius laughed and kicked him in the side before he leaned down. As Tony was beginning to feel warmth rise in his throat he grabbed onto his hair and pulled his head up.

“You should have come home,” he whispered before letting the prince’s head fall to the floor.

Tony’s vision went black for a moment and when it finally cleared Tiberius was gone from the room.

He rolled onto his back bringing his hands up to feel his chest. The blade was pushed all the way in to the hilt, piercing right through the center. Tony couldn’t breathe and he could feel hot wetness beginning to bubble between his fingers. He tried to suck in a breath, but it got stuck in his throat and all he could do was cough weakly, the metallic flavor of blood filling his mouth and spewing past his lips.

He was going to die.

He looked down at the blade. The dagger looked to be made of pure silver, carvings of vines twisted around the grip with small gems embedded in it to represent flowers. A large sapphire served as the pommel. It was a gaudy thing, and one Tony had seen before. A ceremonial dagger usually worn by the king, and last worn by Tony’s father. 

Tony coughed again, more blood spilling from his mouth and over his cheeks. It was warm and sticky. His limbs were starting to feel cold now, he could hardly feel his fingers or his legs and the edges of his vision were starting to blur.

Tony could hear crashing, distantly and wondered briefly what it could be before another wave of pain washed over him. His hands fell to the ground and he tried, again, to take a breath.

He really was going to die.

The crashing came closer, and then blue filled his vision. Tony blinked, and cleared the blackness away for just long enough that he recognized scales before they blurred into a mass of blue again.

“Tony! No!” He could hear Winter shouting, but it sounded far away and muffled. He tried to reach out to the dragon, but his hands would no longer respond.

The pain sharpened, suddenly, and Tony curled in on himself, lifting briefly from the floor before he collapsed back. He blinked again and looked down. The dagger was now missing from his chest and his clothes were soaked with blood. Above him the dragon was tearing something apart. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, to say goodbye, but nothing came out.

The last thing he saw was a soft blue light as the blackness finally overtook his vision.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony woke with a gasp, drawing cold air into his lungs. He sat there for a moment, just relishing in the feeling of air filling his lungs before he remembered what had happened and sat up. His hands went straight to his chest to feel around.

His shirt was still soaked with blood, though it had been torn down the middle to bare his chest open. Where the knife had sunk in though, there was no longer a whole. Instead, he felt a hard, round object. He swallowed and looked down.

His chest was streaked with red, still wet and dripping, and at the center was the large sapphire that had been on the dagger. But the gem was glowing. He ran his fingers over the edges of the glowing gem, smearing red over the shining facets. 

“What happened?” he muttered.

There was a snort of disbelief from next to him and Tony jumped. Looking to the side, he saw someone he had never seen before.

This new person had dark brown hair and pale skin. There was certainly plenty of that as well, as the person was completely naked. Tony shuffled back, nervous at seeing another human, especially after being stabbed.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The person snorted. “Can’t you guess?”

Tony narrowed his eyes and looked further at the person. He was close enough that he could see his eyes. They were a familiar blue. A very familiar blue. Tony looked down at his chest and then back up at the person. The gem in his chest was the same color as his eyes. The person moved then, a little unsteadily, and Tony gasped. 

He had a metal arm, shining with blue light through the seams between the plates.

“Winter?” he asked.

“That’s me,” the former dragon said. 

“How the…. What?” Tony gaped.

Winter shrugged. “I told you that dragon magic has a lot of variety.” He tried to pull himself to his feet, tipping to one side as he did. Tony lunged forward to help, catching him as he fell, but his own limbs were not strong enough to hold them both and they collapsed into a pile.

Tony laughed. “So this is more dragon magic?”

“Mostly,” Winter nodded. “Though I’m not sure exactly what happened. I… did not want you to die.” He hesitated and pulled Tony closer to him. “I tried to do something similar to what I did with my arm, and it seems to have worked, but it took more energy to bring you back than the stone could hold alone, so it seems that the magic bound us together.” 

“And that turned you human?”

Winter growled, the sound still sounding draconic even in his human body. “I am a dragon, regardless of form. But, yes, there seem to have been some changes.”

Tony nodded and bit his lip. “Can you…. Um…. Are you stuck like this?’

Winter shrugged. “I do not think so, though it will probably be a time before I can shift to my natural form.” He waved an arm above them, his movements becoming more sure and purposeful.

“That’s good then.” Tony pushed his head into Winter’s chest, his cheeks growing warm. “You saved my life.”

“Yes.”

“And bonded us together.”

“Yes.”

Tony huffed a short laugh. “You like me that much then?” he muttered quietly, pressing his face closer to the chest in front of him.

Winter reached between them and drew Tony’s face up so that they were eye to eye. “Yes,” the dragon said before he bent down to brush their lips together.

Tony groaned and pushed forward, pressing their lips together more solidly and wrapping his own arms around the dragon. 

Winter was the first to pull away, tucking Tony’s head under his chin so he could hold him tightly. “I almost lost you. I have lost too many before. I will not lose you.”

They stayed there for a few moments until the blood on Tony’s chest and face began to dry.

Tony coughed awkwardly. “Um… I feel really gross. And I really need a change of clothes,” he said and looked down, a red blush spreading over his cheeks. “And you need clothes period. We should probably go clean up and then get to bed. I don’t know about you, but almost dying really took it out of me.”

Winter chuckled and nodded. “I suppose you’re right, little prince.” He pulled them to their feet, much more steady on his new limbs and much stronger than Tony expected. “I fear we will need to share your bed now, though.”

“I don’t think that’ll be much of a problem.” Tony grinned.

Winter laughed and pulled Tony out of the room so that they could go and clean the blood off of their skin.

  
  


***

  
  


The next morning, Tony woke with warm arms wrapped around him. He sighed and snuggled into the warmth. This was much more pleasant than waking up before had been. It was disconcerting to sleep with a glowing light coming from his chest, but, then, it was similar enough to the light from Winter’s arm that it hadn’t bugged him all that much. 

He stretched out his limbs slowly and looked up at the face of the dragon in human form. Winter really was quite attractive as a human. Long brown hair, strong jawline with a bit of stubble, really lovely mouth. Tony grinned, he did like that mouth. Reaching up, he brought his lips to Winter’s and kissed him softly. Yep. Great mouth.

Winter opened his eyes to the touch and smiled softly at Tony before kissing him back. 

They stayed like that for a few moments before Winter pulled away and climbed to his feet. He stretched out again and Tony giggled. He still looked like a cat when he did that. Winter looked down at him, an eyebrow raised and Tony just shook his head.

“So,” Tony started. “Think you can take your dragon form today?”

Winter nodded. “It seems a night's sleep did plenty to restore my magic.” He closed his eyes and as Tony watched his whole form seemed to shudder. A moment later, his dragon was standing there just as he usually looked.

Tony whooped in excitement and ran over to hug Winter around his muzzle. “As much as I love cuddling with you, I like you like this too.” 

Winter chuckled, but pressed his head into the hug.

Tony squeezed him tighter before he jumped away. “Now that you’re a proper dragon again,” he started. Winter growled slightly at ‘proper’ but Tony continued, unworried. “I have a plan.” He grinned. “Tiberius will have told my uncle that I’m dead. I’m sure he’s going to announce it to the kingdom as soon as possible, so probably this morning. I’m the last of the Stark line, so he’s going to claim the throne at the same time. If we show up, we can show the council that I’m not dead and prove that he tried to kill me. We get rid of him and I can take the throne and I’m supposed to have been able to! What do you think?”

Winter chuckled. “How soon do we have to leave?”

Tony put a finger against his chin. “If he rode through the night, Tiberius would have gotten back early this morning. Uncle doesn’t wake up before dawn if he doesn’t have to, so he would have found out then. It will take at least couple of hours to gather the council, so he’ll probably have it all set up by about noon.”

The dragon nodded. “We can make that in plenty of time. But what about the other knight?”

“The other knight?” Tony tilted his head.

“The one who set off the explosion to draw me out. He smelled like the first knight that came to rescue you.” 

“Oh! Hammer then.” Tony laughed. “He would have gone with Tiberius. Though, they’d probably be slower then, Justin complains like no one I’ve ever known. They’d probably have still gotten there just after dawn though. Think we can get to the city by noon?”

Winter grinned. “We’ll even have time for breakfast before we leave.”

  
  


***

  
  


Tony whooped as he caught sight of the city and castle below them. Winter chuckled and began circling, descending slowly. Beneath them, people were moving about their business. As they got low enough, Winter let out a roar. The people looked up, frozen for a moment before they began running around and screaming.

Winter landed in the center of the courtyard and Tony leaped off of his back. Before he turned to the people around him.

“Hey everyone!” he shouted. “I’m not dead!”

The people stood, staring, the crowd slowly getting larger as people realized the dragon wasn’t attacking. From the middle of the crowd rose shouting and Tony turned towards it. Two figures pushed through the crowd and rushed towards the prince.

“Tony!” They shouted before leaping onto him.

“Pepper! Rhodey!” Tony responded, a grin almost splitting his face. “It’s good to see you.” he pulled away after a moment. “Is Obie still in court?”

“It just started,” Rhodey responded and Tony grinned.

“Alright then.” Turning to Pepper he grinned. “Would you get that stuff we discussed before?” She smiled and nodded before taking off and Tony turned to the dragon. “Ready to crash a party?” he asked.

“Waiting on you,” Winter nodded.

Tony laughed and led the way towards a large set of doors. “Break it down, would you?”

Winter shrugged then lunged forward, pushing the heavy doors open with a crash. 

Tony walked through the opening and grinned at the gaping faces of the council in front of him.

“Hey! Don’t know if you noticed yet, but yeah. I’m not dead.” He spread his arms wide open and gestured to the room around him. “It was a close call, I’ll admit, but I pulled through. Aren’t you just so excited?” He looked up at the throne at the back of the room. Knights Tiberius and Hammer were standing next to the throne, their mouths open and faces pale. Sitting on the throne, in a place that never belonged to him, Obediah glowered down at Tony, though he schooled his expression quickly.

“Tony, my boy. What a pleasant surprise! These young men had just returned to tell us of your untimely fate. How wonderful it is that they were mistaken.” Obediah’s voice was a smooth as always, confident and convincing. The council around them started nodding.

Tony laughed. “Oh yeah. I’m sure you’re just so happy to see me, aren’t you? Especially since you were the one who ordered Knight Stone to kill me in the first place, weren’t you?” The council around them gasped and started chittering.

“Prince Anthony,” one of them began. “What evidence do you have for this serious accusation?”

“Besides the fact that Knight Stone told me himself?” Tony asked, then shrugged and pulled out the dagger he’d been stabbed with, missing the sapphire, of course. “This is the blade that was used in the attempt.” He held it out for them to see. “It is the king’s ceremonial dagger. My father was the last to wear it and since then it has been kept in a locked case in his rooms. One to which only one person has the key.” He tossed the dagger at Obediah’s feet, making his point perfectly clear.

More talking filled the room and Obediah’s calm facade started to crack, anger making itself known in the tension on his brow. He leaned down to pick up the dagger. 

“This evidence is circumstantial at best. Anyone could have stolen that key,” Obediah held out the dagger again. “This proves nothing. Now, you say that Tiberius is the one who tried to kill you, and yet you seem perfectly fine! I am sure that there is a good explanation for all of this. Don’t worry my boy, we’ll get to the bottom of it. The important thing is that you’re back and home safe!” He walked forward, arms spread out as if to embrace Tony.

“Wait!” A new voice called.

Pepper stepped through the open doorway, pushing through the crowd that had gathered to see the spectacle. She held a large box. Walking into the room, she came to a stop next to Tony and opened it.

“I have, here, unquestionable evidence that Regent Stane ordered and paid for the murder of King Howard and Queen Maria.” This announcement was met with great gasps. A group of counselors came forward to look at the evidence and they pulled out sheet after sheet of paper, many of them with Stane’s personal seal visible on them.

The regent’s face was growing ever more red with anger. “This still proves nothing! Forged papers, a stolen dagger! Who will you believe? A brat who takes no responsibility for his actions or the man who has led this country for years?!” He walked over to the throne and sat down. “If anyone deserves this throne, it is me!” He tossed the dagger to the ground and pointed at Tony. “If you let this child take the throne, he will lead the kingdom to ruin!” 

Some of the council members nodded in agreement, but others seemed more cautious, looking over at the group still going over the chest of papers.

Stane glared at the group and stood. “Fine, if none of you will take care of it, then I will myself!” He pulled a sword out from behind the throne and lunged forward, intent on running Tony through with the blade. 

Right before he reached him, however, Winter leaned forward and bit his head off.

The rest of the body stood there for a moment before it toppled to the ground, the sword clattering against the stone.

Tony gaped at the body before he turned to the dragon who was licking his lips. 

“Did you just eat him?!” The prince asked.

“He was getting on my nerves.” The dragon replied.

Tony barked out a laugh then put a hand to his mouth, surprised. Then he started laughing again and couldn’t stop for a moment, leaning against Winter so that he didn’t fall. Finally he calmed down enough that he could stand on his own and he stepped forward to walk towards the throne. Behind him, Winter’s form blurred until his human shape was walking right behind Tony. Together, they stepped passed the corpse of the former regent and Tony took his place on the throne. Winter sitting on the arm next to him.

“Well,” Tony said. “I suppose this calls for a proper investigation and then a coronation.” 

The council, still shocked at seeing the regent’s head eaten in front of them, nodded and Tony grinned.

“Alright then. Those of you investigating the charges, I want you to continue to do so with the council of Miss Potts and Knight Rhodes.” He then turned to the two knights who were trying to creep away from the throne. “Knights Hammer and Stone are to be arrested and kept in the prison until such time as we finish the investigation and they can be sentenced.” Guards stationed at the front of the room leapt forward to grab the two knights and drag them out of the room. “And we will worry about the coronation after all of that is done, so for the rest of you, meeting adjourned, for now.”

The room slowly emptied as everyone went their separate ways. Tony turned to his dragon and grinned.

“Looks like we did it, huh?” he asked.

Winter leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Looks like we did.”

Tony whooped and pulled Winter down for a long kiss. They didn’t come up for air for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes art by feignedsobriquet who is awesome!!!   
> Link: https://img3.pillowfort.social/posts/73d1166bd6a2_brighteyes.jpg


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